“Joseph dreamed still another dream.” Genesis 37:9 NKJV
“Leave room in your heart for God to place His dreams there.”
My thoughts today encourage that you leave “room for dreams.”
Ask a child, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and they have an answer. They are looking into the future, seeing what they want to be, and believing what they can be. When our youngest grandson, McKinnley, was a preschooler he wanted to be Superman. I think a lot of us have tried to be that, and had to give it up. Now he wants to be Kobe Bryant or Manu Ginobili. For a child, the future is wide open and anything seems possible. Their life has plenty of room for dreams, without such adult concerns of practicality.
What would life be without a dream? A lot less than is possible with one, I would suggest. Imagine what you might be able to do or become, if you made room in your future for dreams. Remember this; dreams can be pretty fragile so be very careful with yours, and how you handle others’. You’ve seen people who have lost their dreams. Maybe you are that person. If you lose your dream, you lose a little part of yourself, becoming something less than you could have been. Life then can seem hollow, shallow even, and more confined and mundane.
Joseph was a grandson of Abraham. Maybe when growing up, he heard Jacob, his father, telling stories of how God gave Joseph’s grandfather a dream, showing him a future family more numerous than the stars (See Genesis 12:1-4 NIV/Romans 4:18-22 NIV), and a place of inheritance given him by God (See Genesis 13:14-17 NIV/Hebrews 11:8-12 NIV). Joseph seemed to come by dreams naturally. “Now Joseph had a dream . . then he dreamed still another dream.” Genesis 37:7/9.
Joseph’s brothers’ jealousy of him and his dreams grew until they reasoned, “Here comes the dreamer . . let us kill him . . then we’ll see what will become of his dreams.” Genesis 37:19 NIV. Isn’t that what life is about – seeing what will become of your dreams? There will be people who stopped dreaming who will want to take away your dream too. Your dream is costly, but it is also priceless!
Circumstances, opposition, weariness, distraction, misplaced priorities, difficulty, impatience – any or all conspire to kill dreams and leave lives without inspiration, direction, hope, and assurance. Make sure your dreams come from God’s heart. “Now Glory be to God! . . He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.” Ephesians 3:20 NLT. He best knows you, and your future. Leave room in your heart for God to place His dreams there.
Here’s some things I have learned about dreams from Joseph: dreams last when they are God’s dream for you; dreams from God involve helping others; dreams will not excite everybody; dreams take time and determination to become reality; dreams come true when you stay true; dreams happen for people who keep dreaming; dreams can become a nightmare if God isn’t at their center.
I leave you with God’s good counsel to the prophet, Habakkuk, “These things I plan won’t happen right way. Slowly, steadily, surely the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.” Habakkuk 3:3 NLT.
My prayer for you today is that your dreams come true when they come from God.